Lubricator for roll feed

ABSTRACT

A unitary roll feed for feeding web material to a machine having a simplified manually operable means to permit feed length adjustment while the machine is in operation. A pulsating brake, automatic and manual roll lifter, and oiler are provided in the same compact housing. Since all of these features are in a single unit, it may be universally applied to any type of press, punch or analogous machine without loss of any one of the features.

United States Patent Chmela [451 July 11,1972

[54] LUBRICATOR FOR ROLL FEED [72] Inventor: Stephen M. Chmeh, 1514 Mark Drive,

Mount Prospect, 111. 60056 [22] Filed: June 22, 1970 1211 Appl. No.: 47,967

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No, 722,056, April 17, 1968, Pat. No.

{52] US. Cl. ..l84/l7, 72/43, 184/66 [51] Int. Cl ..Fl6n 7/24 [58] Field of Search 184/17, 65, 6.4, 66; 137/453;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,159,351 5/ 1939 Burns ..72/43 1,705,845 3/1929 Woodman 137/453 2,909,150 10/ 19 59 Unaerer 2,555,021 5/1951 Backus 172/43 Primary Examiner-William E. Wayner Anomey-Robert E. Wagner [57] ABSTRACT A unitary roll feed for feeding web material to a machine having a simplified manually operable means to permit feed length adjustment while the machine is in operation. A pulsating brake, automatic and manual roll litter. and oiler are provided in the same compact housing. Since all of these features are in a single unit, it may be universally applied to any type of press, punch or analogous machine without loss of any one of the features.

ZCInimlSDrawingFigures PA'TE'N'TEDJUL 1 1 I972 SHEET 1 0f 5 INVENTOR STEPHEN M. CHMELA PKTENTEDJUL 11 I972 SHEET 2 BF 5 IN VE N TOR STEPHEN M CHMELA @Mfi My od ATT'Y PKTEN'TEDJUL 1 1 I972 3. 675, 737 SHEET 30F 5 I62 INVENTOR STEPHEN M CHMELA PA'TE'N'TEDJUL 1 1 I972 3,675,737 SEET MI 5 INVENTOR STEPHEN M CHMELA LUBRICATOR FOR ROLL FEED This is a division of application Ser. No. 722,056 for ROLL FEED filed Apr. 17, 1968, now issued as US. Pat. No. 3,517,872.

This invention relates to web feeding mechanisms in general and, more specifically, is directed to a roll-type feed having a combination of novel features in a compact and uncomplicated design. These include an improved adjusting means which permits the feed to be quickly and conveniently adjusted without stopping the machine which drives and is fed by the roll feed; a pulsating brake operable in an intermediate portion of the machine cycle; a manually operable thickness adjustment and automatically operated roll lifter; and a gravity-type oiler with automatic shutoff in the event the machine operation is stopped.

In the feeding of web-like material such as metal strips or the like for cutting, punching and similar operations, it is a well-known procedure to employ coacting feed rolls which engage opposite sides of the web of material. One of both of the feed rolls are actuated intermittently from a drive means through a unidirectional clutch of the ratchet or overrunning type. During each operative stroke of the reciprocating machine, the feed rolls are accelerated from the idle position through a feed cycle to a stop position. As the roll feed reaches the stop position, the press recycles and the operation is repeated.

The present invention relates to a compact roll feed of uncomplicated design having many desirable features which are usually only found in more expensive and complicated roll feeds. These include a novel adjustment to vary the amount of feed from zero to maximum by a simple hand-operated adjustment; a simplified roll lifter arrangement which becomes operative at the end of the feed cycle to release the driving engagement of the rollers with the web of material fed to permit locating means to position the web for maximum accuracy in the cutting, punching or forming operations; a novel brake means which becomes fully operative in the intermediate part of the press cycle or at the end of the feed cycle to bring the feed rolls to a full stop or idle position to prevent overrunning of the material; and, a manually operable thickness adjustment which is integrated with the automatic roll lifter. The invention described here, however, primarily concerns A gravity-type oiler provided to lubricate the material to be processed. The oiler includes a novel automatic flow cutofi'arrangement which becomes operable when the receiving or drain tank reaches a certain level to guard against oil overflow in the event that the operator fails to close the flow control valve.

The present invention has several advantages over existing types of roll feeds in that it is universally applicable to the various types of machines, such as presses, punches or the like. The entire assembly is extremely compact and is easily installed, as it needs only to be attached to the machine and a drive arm attached to the drive on the machine. The adjustment is located at the level of the bed of the machine and may be conveniently accomplished by the press attendant during press operation without the aid of tools. The roll feed is of simplified construction which makes it economical to manufacture yet provides many features only available in more expensive designs. Because of its simplified construction, it is also extremely reliable in use, for it is a well-known fact that oversophistication oftentimes breeds unreliability in machine designs.

It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved adjustable roll feed of uncomplicated construction which is economical to manufacture.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a new and improved adjustable roll feed having a roll lifter which becomes automatically operative at the terminal part of the press cycle. Such roll lifter includes a thickness adjustment and a lock out means which renders the roll lifter inoperable at the option of the user.

It is still further object of this invention to provide an adjustable roll feed having a brake means which becomes operative shortly before the terminal part of the feed cycle to prevent overrunning of the feed rolls due to inherent inertia.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a roll feed having a simplified form of adjustment means which permits the feed length to be adjusted from zero to maximum by merely rotating a hand wheel.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a new and improved compact roll feed of uncomplicated design having feed length and thickness adjustments, automatic roll lifter, pulsating brake and oiler with automatic cutoff, all of which are combined in a compact assembly and related to provide maximum efficiency in the feeding operation.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a gravity type oiler on a roll feed with a simplified but automatically operated flow cutoff.

Additional objects of the invention will become apparent when reference is made to the following specifications and accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the roll feed of the present invention being operatively installed on a punch press which is shown fragmentarily;

FIG. 2 is a schematic exploded perspective view of the feeding portion of the roll feed;

FIG. 3 is a view of the adjusting means of the roll feed shown in FIG. 2 with the feed at the zero adjust position;

FIG. 4 is a view taken generally along the line 44 of FIG. 3, showing the adjustment at the zero position in solid lines and in phantom lines at the maximum feed position;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged end elevational view of the roll feed with the end cover removed and parts of the assembly broken away to show the oiler;

FIG. 6 is a view of the right-hand end of the roll feed with the cover removed to illustrate the roll lifter and intermittent brake assembly;

FIGS. 7-10 illustrate in enlarged cross section the sequence of operation of the intermittently operable roll lifter means with FIG. 7 being taken generally along the line 77 of FIG. 13.

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary perspective view of the thickness adjustment for the rolls;

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary schematic perspective of the braking arrangement;

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along the line 13-13 of FIG. 5 to illustrate the basic relationship of the entire assembly; and

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along the line 14--l4 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 15 is a schematic view showing the oiler system.

Referring now to FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 generally indicates the roll feed assembly of the present invention, being illustrated in supported relation on the input side of a punch press indicated generally by the reference numeral 11 and shown only fragmentarily. The roll feed includes a center housing 12 having covers 13 and 14 at opposite ends. The center housing forms a tank for oil to be supplied to the oiler to be described, and includes an airtight cap I5 which is removable to permit the oil supply to be replenished as needed. Outwardly of the end cover 14 is a drive arm 15 which has a driving link 16 which is attachable to the conventional drive (not shown) of the press 11. It can be appreciated that the drive arm 16 may assume any desired angle, however, in most cases will be substantially vertical, as shown.

The roll feed 10 is attached to the front or input side of the press by any suitable means. Because of its unique design, it is universally applicable to attachment to any type of press by merely providing a suitable bracket 25' to support its weight and oppose the reaction forces of operation. The center housing 12 includes a pair of guides 20 and 21 which provide general guidance for the web of material 22 which is fed to the press 11. The upper guide 21 is provided with detents (not shown) which cooperate with spring biased pins on the movable guide blocks 25 and 26. The blocks 25 and 26 may be adjusted laterally to accommodate changes in the width of the web 22.

Adjustment of the length of feed is accomplished through rotation of the handle 23, while the thickness adjustment may be performed by rotating the handle 24. As is evident, because of the convenient location of each of these adjustments, and the manner in which they operate, they may be performed while the press is in operation. The vertical guides and 21 are located generally in alignment with the feed level of the die and, as will be appreciated hereinafter, are generally aligned with the feed rolls as are the guide blocks 25 and 26. A

. handle 27 is also provided to permit the attendant to separate the rolls during threading of the web, as occurs upon start-up or when the supply coil is exhausted.

Referring not to FIG. 2, the roll feed portion of the general assembly is shown in schematic exploded perspective, including an upper roller 30 and lower roller 31. As is well known in the art, the web of material 22 is fed between the bed to the press by the angular or rotational movement of the rollers 30 and 31. Roller 30 is integral with or attached to a shaft 33 which is driven by a clutch 32 which is of the unidirectional variety, rotating the roller 30 in a clockwise direction only when viewed from its left-hand end.

At the'opposite end of the shaft 33 is a brake assembly 34 which will be described in greater detail hereinafter. Intermediate the brake assembly 34 and the end of the upper roll 30 is a spur gear 35 which meshes with a spur gear 36 mounted on the shaft 37 to drive the lower roll 31. The lower roll 31 rotates at the same speed as the upper roll 30 inasmuch as the gears 35 and 36 are of identical construction.

A feed length adjustment assembly is indicated generally at 40 and forms a part of the power train extending from the drive arm 15 to the unidirectional clutch 32.

Summarizing the general operation of the roll feed, when the arm 15 is moved in response to movement of the press, angular motion is imparted to the shaft 41 which, in turn, rotates the drive block 45 in a counterclockwise direction when viewed from the left-hand end of the shaft 41. This motion is transferred to the quadrant gear 48 through the drive pin 47, causing the quadrant gear 48 to move angularly to impart rotation to the spur gear 52. The rotational or angular motion is transmitted through the end 53 of the gear 52 to the unidirectional clutch 32 which, in turn, transmits the motion to the shaft 33, causing the upper feed roller 30 to rotate in a clockwise direction. The gear 35 drives the gear 36 so that the lower cooperating feed roller 31 will also move angularly to cause feeding of the sheet or web material between the rolls 30 and 31.

A gauge which illustrates the feed length is shown at 67 in FIG. 5, being moved by a tensioned wire 68 having one end attached to the housing through a spring 69 and the other end attached to the top of the arm and calibrated to indicate the feed length.

In FIG. 12, the pulsating brake assembly 34 is illustrated in schematic form exploded away from the other parts with the exception of the drive shaft 41, which has a cam surface 71. A cam follower 72 in the form of a roller cooperates with cam surface 71 and actuates the pulsating brake assembly 34. The cam follower 72 is carried on the end of a lever arm 73 which is joined to a shaft 74 having at the opposite end a lever arm 75. The lever arm 75 engages a brake actuator 76 which is located within a brake drum 77 and will be described in greater detail hereinafter.

The brake assembly 34 is illustrated in greater detail in the end elevational view of FIG. 6, consisting of a pair of brake bands 78 and 79 having spring means 80, 81 and 82 which pull them to the closed position. The brake bands or shoes 78 and 79 cooperate with the interior of the drum 77, which may be a conventional brake drum from an automobile joined to the end of shaft 33.

The roll lifter and thickness adjustment is shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 13 and the schematic diagrammatic view of FIG. 11. The roll lifter is also cam operated. Operation is timed to occur at the terminal part of the press stroke to permit locating pilot pins to enter the work and center the same for cutting, punching, forming or the like. This is particularly useful in progressive die stamping where the work must be centered preparatory to engagement by the die for the stamping operation. As will be described, the roll lifiing function can be omitted by a simple adjustment.

Basically, the roll lifter operates through a cam follower which lifts the roll at the end of the downward stroke of the press. On the retracting or upward stroke, a novel lost-motion arrangement permits the cam operator to become ineffective so that lifting does not occur as the feed is operated through the final half of the retracting stroke. This unique roll lifting arrangement is integrated with a thickness adjustment which is shown in the schematic view of FIG. 11. The handle 27 shown in FIG. 1 is located adjacent the thickness adjustment and is operative through the adjustment to permit manual separation of the rolls to permit threading the lead end of a new coil through the feed rollers by a simple manual operation.

The roll lifting function is obtained through a lost-motion cam arrangement which is shown in enlarged views in FIGS. 7-10 in various stages of operation. The motion generated by the cam is transmitted through a follower 130 (FIG. 7) on an arm 120 which, as seen in FIG. 13, is attached to the end of a hollow shaft 121 which supports a pair of identical fingers 123 and 123. The shape of the finger 123 is best shown in FIG. 6 and has its outer end in engagement with a hook-shaped shoulder portion 124 formed in the roll support arm 90. As can be appreciated, when the shaft 121 is rotated in a clockwise direction, the fingers 123 and 123' engage the opposed shoulders on the arms and 90', compressing the springs in the spring towers 94 and 94 and moving the lower roll away from the upper roll.

The general sequence of feeding is as follows: When the press is moving upward, the link 16 (shown in FIG. 1) moves the drive arm 15 in a counterclockwise direction, rotating the shaft 41 and causing feeding as described above. During this time, the cam operator 142 assumes the position shown in FIG. 7, as the shaft 41 initially rotates relative to a fixed outer sleeve 140 and the rotatable or lost-motion shaft 144. The drive is transmitted by the end 150 of the brake cam 71 engaging a shoulder on the shaft 144. A notch 141 formed in the drive shaft 41 permits the cam or dog 142 which is pivotally mounted on a pin 143 and spring biased, to be moved into the notch 141 by the operator when the lost-motion shaft is moving counterclockwise or on the upstroke of the press. With the cam operator 142 aligned with the notch 141, as the shaft 41 rotates past the cam follower 130, it is moved into the notch being ineffective and the lower roll is unaffected. As the press reaches the upper end of the stroke and commences its down stroke, the spring biases the dog 142 outward, and the inner shaft 144 moves relative to the drive shaft 41 to assume the position shown in FIG. 8, with the shoulder 150 abutting the shoulder 151 on the shaft 41. Because of the relative movement between the shaft 144 and shaft 41, the notch 141 in the shaft 41 is moved relative to the cam or dog 142 to place the flat backing surface 152 behind the cam or dog 142. This prevents the cam from moving inward as it passes the follower as seen in FIG. 9. In this position, the press is at the bottom stroke and the roll lifter operates as follows: The dog 142 actuates the cam follower 130 which moves the lever arm 120 through an angle, causing the shaft 121 to turn. The links 122 and 123 rotate downwardly, engaging the shoulders 124 and 124 to cause the support arms 90 and 90 to move downwardly, overcoming the pressure of the springs in the spring towers 94 and 94'. This results in the separation of the upper and lower rolls and permits locating pins or the like on the die to move the web 22 into alignment for the forming, cutting or punching operations.

The feed cycle commences as the press begins its upward stroke and the cam operator assumes the position generally shown in FIG. 10. The dog 142 is located for movement in the notch 141 and, as it passes the follower 130, it will move to the position shown in FIG. 10. Upon beginning the feed cycle, a shoulder 160 formed by projecting ends of the cam 71 moves into engagement with the shoulder 161 on the shaft 141. As

seen in FIG. 13, fixed brake pads 162 and 163 engage the periphery of the outer shaft 144 to assure that it will not rotate in either direction until engaged by the cooperating shoulder formed by the ends of brake cam 71 which is attached to the drive shaft 41. In this manner, the proper orientation of the shaft 41 relative to the coaxial cooperating shaft 144 is assured and the roll lifting function will be performed at the end or ten'ninal portion of the feed cycle.

The web oiler can best be seen in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 5 and the longitudinal cross-sectional view which is partly in elevation in FIG. 14. Upper and lower housing members 160 and 161 cooperate to form an oil shield supporting the upper and lower oil rollers 162 and 163, respectively. The rollers are formed frOm a simple tubular stock having plastic bearing caps press-fitted into each end, which caps are mounted for relative rotation in openings (not shown) formed in the housings 160 and 161.

A conduit 164 leads to the tank 12 which is located above the oil rollers 162 and-163. A flow control valve 165 is arranged in the conduit line and may be open to any degree to suit the particular needs of the operation to permit flow into the distribution conduit 170. Ports 166 and 166' are drilled in the lower periphery of the distribution conduit 170 on opposite sides of the longitudinal center. Ports 167 and 167' are located axially and circumferentially spaced from the first set of ports, as are the ports 168 and 168. When a narrow web is fed, the valve 165 is only opened slightly and the small flow of oil will drip out through the center holes 166 and 166' directly onto the web, since the conduit 170 will not be filled to the level of the holes 167 and 168. When wider webs are fed, the valve is opened slightly more and the ports 167 and 167' become operative because of the increase in the oil level in the conduit 170. When the maximum width of material or web 22 is fed, the valve is fully opened and the ports 168 and 168 are also affected to release the oil onto the upper roller 162 and lower roller 163. As can be appreciated, any number of ports may be provided, depending upon the requirements.

When shutdown of the press occurs for examination of the die, inserting a new coil of material or the like, oftentimes the press attendant forgets to close the valve. In conventional oiler designs, this resulted in the oil continuing to flow and causing overflow onto the floor in the area of the press. The necessity to clean up this hazard causes further down time, with the attendant economic effects. In the present oiler design, this is avoided as the tank 180 is vented through a conduit 171 which communicates with the lower part of the lower tank or housing 161. When the oil level is above the level of the opening 171, the vent to the tank 180 is closed and the resulting vacuum or air lock initially slows down the oil flow and, after a short period, causes it to completely stop. This prevents further oil flow until sufiicient oil is used up after start-up of the press to uncover the lower end of the vent conduit 171. As can be appreciated, this desirable feature is accomplished with a minimum expenditure in materials.

The compactness of the roll feed arrangement is best demonstrated by reference to the cross-sectional view of FIG. 13. As can be seen, the pulsating brake operating shaft 74 is located within and coaxial to the shaft 121 which serves to operate the roll lifter. The cam operator 71 is located adjacent to the lost-motion cam arrangement described in connection with FIGS. 7-10 and forms the stops for cooperating with the shaft 144. All of the essential operating features are located compactly within one housing and, therefore, the roll feed may be attached to any type of press, punch or the like, only requiring support in line with the dies on the press and attachment through an arm 16 to the existing drive of the press. The convenience in the location of the roll feed and the adjustments pemiit the thickness to be readily adjusted and the feed length adjusted without the use of any tools. Actual setup only requires the operator to manually separate the rolls by moving the operating handle 27, which rotates the cam 172 (FIG. 6), actuating the follower link 173 to rotate the links 123 and 123' and move the support arms and 90' downward. The web of material may then be threaded between the separated rollers. Thereafter, the feed length adjustment may be selected by cut-and-try or by setting the desired length by referring to the gauge which was described in connection with FIG. 5. The simplified form of design makes the roll feed very economically manufactured, assembled and shipped and the simplicity of the parts assures a long life and trouble-free operation, yet all the features of the more expensive versions are provided.

Upon a consideration of the foregoing, it will become obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the invention embodied herein. Therefore, only such limitations should be imposed as are indicated by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a roll feed arrangement for feeding a web of material through a press and wherein a pair of feed rollers engage said web of material on opposite sides for feeding thereof to said press, the improvement comprising lubricating means to oil said web after it leaves said feed rollers but prior to positioning on said press, said lubricating means including upper and lower lubricating rollers carried in a housing, and engaging opposite sides of said web of material for lubricating the same, a lubricant supply tank located above said upper and lower lubricating rollers, conduit means supplying oil from said lubricating supply tank to said housing over a top portion of said upper roller, and a vent means joining said supply tank with the lower end of said housing below a top portion of the lower of said rollers to prevent flow of oil through said conduit means when the oil reaches a predetermined level.

2. In a roll feed arrangement for feeding a web of material through a press and wherein a pair of rollers engage said web of material on opposite sides for feeding thereof to said press, the improvement comprising lubricating means to oil said web after it leaves said rollers but prior to positioning on said press, said lubricating mean including a pair of rollers carried in a housing, and engaging opposite sides of said web of material, a supply tank located above said rollers, conduit means supplying oil to said housing and a vent means for said supply tank communicating with the lower end of said housing to prevent flow of oil through said conduit means when the oil reaches a predetermined level, said conduit means being provided with a flow control valve and a portion of said conduit means within said housing having ports arranged in axial and angularly spaced relation to permit selective distribution to the web of material by adjusting said flow control means. 

1. In a roll feed arrangement for feeding a web of material through a press and wherein a pair of feed rollers engage said web of material on opposite sides for feeding thereof to said press, the improvement comprising lubricating means to oil said web after it leaves said feed rollers but prior to positioning on said press, said lubricating means including upper and lower lubricating rollers carried in a housing, and engaging opposite sides of said web of material for lubricating the same, a lubricant supply tank located above said upper and lower lubricating rollers, conduit means supplying oil from said lubricating supply tank to said housing over a top portion of said upper roller, and a vent means joining said supply tank with the lower end of said housing below a top portion of thE lower of said rollers to prevent flow of oil through said conduit means when the oil reaches a predetermined level.
 2. In a roll feed arrangement for feeding a web of material through a press and wherein a pair of rollers engage said web of material on opposite sides for feeding thereof to said press, the improvement comprising lubricating means to oil said web after it leaves said rollers but prior to positioning on said press, said lubricating mean including a pair of rollers carried in a housing, and engaging opposite sides of said web of material, a supply tank located above said rollers, conduit means supplying oil to said housing and a vent means for said supply tank communicating with the lower end of said housing to prevent flow of oil through said conduit means when the oil reaches a predetermined level, said conduit means being provided with a flow control valve and a portion of said conduit means within said housing having ports arranged in axial and angularly spaced relation to permit selective distribution to the web of material by adjusting said flow control means. 